Meanwhile, home sales edged up 1.1% in March compared with February, the highest monthly increase since April 2016. Sales activity in March was up 6.6% from a year ago.

While 75% of the 13 markets tracked by the association reported more sales, Toronto and surrounding areas posted the biggest increase. The number of sales rose 17% year-over-year to 12,077 in Toronto, according to the report.

“The current strength in national home sales mainly speaks to what’s going on in and around Toronto,” Andrew Peck, president of Canadian Real Estate Association, said in the report.

By comparison, Greater Vancouver continued to slow down, partly due to the province’s cooling measures, including a 15% foreign buyers’ transfer tax that went into effect last August. In March, the number of sales in this region declined 37.9% to 1,350 from a year ago.

However, the Greater Vancouver area still boasted higher home prices than its east coast counterpart. The index prices for Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto stood at C$919,300 (US$687,636) and C$772,500 (US$577,830), rising 13% and 29% year-over-year, respectively.